Exploring Technology in a Wizard World
Chapter 519 - 517 Mu’en

Chapter 519: Chapter 517 Mu’en

The night continued.

Richard returned to the courtyard he was renting, stood in the yard, and stared at the night sky, lost in thought.

At that moment, rhythmic knocking sounds of "bang bang bang" came from the courtyard door.

Richard was not surprised at all and walked to the door quickly, opened it, and let the person outside who was knocking come in.

The person who entered was a man in his early twenties, dressed in a black robe, tightly wrapped as if he was afraid of being seen. A gaunt face was hidden inside the hood of the robe, and his eyes occasionally flashed with sharp alertness.

This man, named Mu’en, was a wandering Third-level Wizard Apprentice and an information trafficker. He controlled many ordinary people in Florence City as his informants. He was willing to risk anything to gather information or help with some difficult tasks as long as there was money involved.

The risk was high for him, and once, he was chased by several wizards due to a slip-up and was coincidentally saved by Richard who happened to pass by.

Since then, Mu’en had become Richard’s exclusive information trafficker, gathering large funds from Richard and serving him wholeheartedly.

At this time, when Mu’en walked through the door, he quickly scanned the courtyard to ensure no one else was there, then relaxed slightly. However, he still stood near the door, ensuring that he could quickly escape the courtyard in case of danger—not out of mistrust towards Richard, but purely out of habit developed from years of life-and-death experiences.

Richard found this normal and looked at him, asking, "No one followed you, right?"

"I saw the signal you left for me and came right over. I was very careful on the way here, and I’m sure no one followed me," Mu’en replied, then looked at Richard and asked, "But I don’t know, Lord Richard, why have you summoned me so suddenly? Do you want to know about my recent work?"

"Not that," Richard shook his head, "but since you are here, let’s talk about your recent situation anyway. It will give me a better understanding of things and facilitate our communication."

Mu’en nodded and said, "Alright, I’ll tell you. But after I finish, I hope you, Lord Richard, will not be angry."

"Why?" Richard inquired.

"Because my recent situation has not been ideal, or rather, there has been no progress at all. In the beginning, you gave me two tasks, Lord Richard.

The first task was to investigate a girl named Heidi whom you told me carried a black cat and might be related to a special symbol.

Despite my efforts, I found nothing about the girl or the special symbol. I did find many black cats, but they were all strays and unlikely to be the one you spoke of.

The second task was to gather information about the Black Spirit Empire. I talked to many scholars in Florence and even used some special connections to contact some wizards, but they all knew nothing. I also found nothing about the symbol of the Black Spirit Empire.

Overall, my performance has been very poor."

At this point, Mu’en paused. It was evident from his expression that he felt guilty for not achieving results, and he couldn’t help but say, "Lord Richard, I don’t doubt the importance of these tasks to you, but currently, I really have no leads. Continuing would only unnecessarily use the funds you provided. Perhaps, we should pause for now?"

"Don’t," Richard waved his hand, "Don’t stop. Keep an eye out for the girl Heidi and continue the search, and inform me if there’s any news. If there’s no news, increase the manpower. I’m not afraid to spend the money, as long as it’s spent in the right place, I can provide as much as you need."

"Uh—" Mu’en found himself at a loss for words.

"Moreover," Richard continued, "your inability to find information about the Black Spirit Empire is normal. If it was easy to find out, I wouldn’t have tasked you with it.

But don’t worry. Though there may still be no leads, a breakthrough has appeared for this task, and you just need to seize the opportunity."

"A breakthrough? Where?" Mu’en quickly asked.

"Do you know Rotten Pine Alley, to the north of Florence City?" Richard inquired.

"Hmm?" Mu’en’s eyes flashed, "Lord Richard, are you referring to the Rotten Pine Alley that caught fire last night and had notices posted by the soldiers in Florence City today? It seems like eight people perished, five men and three women, among them an old man and a baby." Evidently, Mu’en was very familiar with this information, as expected for an information trafficker.

Richard nodded and said, "Correct, that’s the Rotten Pine Alley. The fire in that alley was not accidental."

"Like the poster suggests—arson?"

"Something like that. In a courtyard deep in Rotten Pine Alley, there was an old man named Lawrence whose ancestors were craftsmen in the Black Spirit Empire. He inherited some knowledge about the Empire and created many objects that existed only during the Empire’s time.

These actions, seen through others’ eyes, might have been considered taboo, thus leading to his tragic death. I’ve gone to the scene, and inside that courtyard, there were symbols of the Black Spirit Empire."

"This!" Mu’en’s eyebrows shot up, then he fell into thought and after a while, he spoke up, "I really hadn’t considered that. It seems...I need to visit the scene myself."

"How you proceed is up to you, I won’t interfere, it’s your freedom," Richard stated, "But personally, I suggest you dig deeper into this matter. Without surprise, this incident should attract the reaction of various wizard organizations, and you can use your connections to gather more of their information, and you might stumble upon vital clues."

"Hmm," Mu’en nodded in agreement.

"Another thing," Richard continued, "According to my guess, the organization behind this act is a very special group of wizards, operating without any restraints and with considerable information about the Black Spirit Empire. If your people make contact with them, be very cautious because they possess powerful abilities and use bizarre methods. Don’t think about taking direct action; use your brain instead."

"Use my brain, got it," Mu’en noted.

"That’s good," Richard acknowledged.

After a brief silence, Mu’en looked up at Richard and asked, "Lord Richard, do you have any other instructions? If not, I’ll take my leave now and inform you if there are any results."

"Alright," Richard nodded in agreement, then added, "I’ll see you out." Saying this, he walked towards the courtyard gate with Mu’en.

After a moment, as Mu’en stepped out, he noticed Richard hadn’t closed the door and, blinking rapidly, keenly asked, "Lord Richard, it seems like you still have something to say?"

Richard pursed his lips and finally spoke, "What I wanted to say is—be careful—these people are very dangerous, you must be cautious!"

Mu’en, sensing the seriousness in Richard’s tone, solemnly nodded and responded, "I will."

"That’s for the best," Richard said, then stretched his hand to close the door, and Mu’en quickly disappeared into the darkness outside.

...